![Exploring Early Development]()
Andreas Jenny, Ph.D., has received a four-year, $1.2-million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the role of the WNK signaling pathway in early development. Wnk kinases were known to help regulate ion reabsorption in the kidney and can cause hypertension when over activated (Gordon syndrome). Using Drosophila as model system, Dr. Jenny and colleagues have identified a previously unknown function of WNK kinases in regulating the Wnt/B-Catenin signaling pathway that is conserved in human cells. Since Wnt signaling controls cell proliferation and loss of WNK1 itself can lead to angiogenesis defects, further study of the relationship between these two pathways during development may lead to new treatments for cancer or heart disease. Dr. Jenny is associate professor of developmental and molecular biology, and of genetics.
Posted on: Tuesday, July 26, 2016